Controversial Reddit AI study raises wider ethical concerns

Marketplace Tech

American Public Media

Technology, News

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 28 May 2025

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In late April, details came to light about a covert experiment conducted by researchers from the University of Zurich on unsuspecting Reddit users on the debate forum known as r/changemyview. They used AI chatbots posing as real humans on the forum to test their powers of persuasion and invented backstories like a rape survivor or a Black man opposed to Black Lives Matter. What they didn't have was consent. The experiment violated Reddit Terms of Service, forum rules and, critics say, academic research standards. The researchers who notified Reddit of the experiment after the fact have since apologized and said they won't publish the results. Reddit says it's increasing efforts to verify users are human. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke to Mohammad Hosseini, a professor at Northwestern University's medical school, about the potential harms that could come from a study like this one.

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1:31.9	Using AI to experiment on humans. From American Public Media, this is Marketplace Tech. I'm
1:39.7	Megan McCarty Carino.
1:56.4	Last month, details came to light about a covert experiment conducted on unsuspecting Reddit users on the debate forum known as Change My View.
2:00.5	Researchers at the University of Zurich unleashed AI chatbots, posing as real humans on the forum,
2:07.6	detest their powers of persuasion.
2:10.3	They had invented backstories like a rape survivor or a black man opposed to Black Lives Matter.
2:17.0	What they didn't have was consent.
2:20.2	The experiment violated Reddit terms of service, forum rules, and critics say academic research
	...

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